Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Stock Position Cut by Boston Partners

Key Points

• Boston Partners reduced its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. by 11.5%, owning approximately 2.8 million shares valued at $379 million after the sale.
• Insider trading activity shows Stephen Edward Hull sold over 7,500 shares at an average price of $176.39, reducing his ownership by 22.13%.
• Leidos announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, set to be paid on September 30th, with a current annualized yield of 0.9%.

Boston Partners trimmed its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,805,821 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 366,383 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 2.18% of Leidos worth $379,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Thomas Story & Son LLC purchased a new position in Leidos during the first quarter worth about $6,631,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 1.9% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 39,300 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,298,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 252.6% during the first quarter. Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,500 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Leidos by 5.4% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 18,427 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the first quarter valued at about $96,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LDOS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.46.

Leidos Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:LDOS traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $177.68. The stock had a trading volume of 849,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,926. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $161.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $22.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.65. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.58. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is 15.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $356,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,804,892.85. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,478 shares of company stock worth $1,852,525. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.